So I have read the many posts on people shooting way before leagal shooting time. My question is what is the point of the delay on opening morning? Im all about obeying laws that have a reason, I just dont understand that law. We waited threw 15 min of early shooting before we started, once the steel is flying what is the point in waiting like so many people claimed to have done. Help me out guys!

It's because the division knows how crowded the marsh is and with everyone setting up on top of each other they don't want anybody getting shot, so they put the asterisk by the opening morning with an explanation to make sure people can see if they're about to kill another hunter, as far as waiting you wait because it's the law and the ethical thing to do, unfortunately the herd mentality of everyone proves otherwise.

Why wait? First off its the law. There is not a single duck of goose in the marsh worth the ticket or hassle. Second there are kids out there who get to watch all these idiots break the law. Hopefully we not only teach the next generation our great sport but we teach them to be ethical hunters. Opening day is less about the ducks and more about having a good time with friends.

Early shooting is early shooting. On the bright side I saved a bunch of shells since I only pulled the trigger once the whole day.

Why is it ok for the youth hunters to shoot early and not us its bull sh*t. FB was full of boats on the youth hunt it don't make sense .I was watching the kids across the pond on the hunt and I herd a shot go off with no ducks in site then I herd laughing and a kid saying I thought I had the safety on I don't no why this kid thought it was funny he could have blown someone head off. what was sad the adult let him keep shooting if it was my kid he would have been done for the year. By the way adults were letting kids shoot early on the youth hunt the first year or two they waited on the youth hunt then it was five then ten minutes early what a joke. What really bugs me is teaching the kids its ok to sky bust and to sit right on top of other hunters

cootlover wrote:Why is it ok for the youth hunters to shoot early and not us its bull sh*t. FB was full of boats on the youth hunt it don't make sense .I was watching the kids across the pond on the hunt and I herd a shot go off with no ducks in site then I herd laughing and a kid saying I thought I had the safety on I don't no why this kid thought it was funny he could have blown someone head off. what was sad the adult let him keep shooting if it was my kid he would have been done for the year. By the way adults were letting kids shoot early on the youth hunt the first year or two they waited on the youth hunt then it was five then ten minutes early what a joke. What really bugs me is teaching the kids its ok to sky bust and to sit right on top of other hunters

Great responses. I'm not saying that anyone should break laws and totally understand the importance of safety. I was questioning the law in place. If your so stupid to shoot at someone or pepper other groups of hunters, no 30 extra minutes of light is going to take away the stupidity. The extra 30 mins ends up being an extra 15 mins anyways. Some laws have no need and are nearly impossible to enforce. If you hear half of the marsh erupt in gunfire 15 minutes early and you wait it out because your a great sportsman and follower of every law in place then walk out of the marsh with 2 birds that's on you. IMO

I just would really hate to get a $150 -200 ticket for shooting early. The only reason I went was for my little girl .I really think they should make it a $1000 fine for shooting early on opening day with that kind of money on the line you would get every fish cop in the state in the marsh and I would be willing to bet it would almost stop the early shooting .

I took one of my buddies on his first duck hunt this last Saturday and the guys that shot early were peppering us like crazy! And one of them hit my friend about a 1/4 inch below he's eye and it swol up and looked pretty bad it was pretty wild having to turn sideways every time those guys shot just in case it happened again we did yell over to tell them and then it wasn't so bad

This year's opener was the worst I have ever seen. I remember why I quit hunting openers 15 years ago. I took my 12 year old out to FB and shooting started when it was still dark ~6:50. I was proud of my son he held off until legal hours. I think next year you all can have the opening morning hunt and I'll sleep in and go out for the evening hunt.

Maybe there is a whole bunch of preaching to the choir going on on this forum. Guys (including myself sometimes) just sit and complain all the time, it is almost discouraging to get on here anymore. The guy that started this thread asked a question and the first couple of responses answered it. I feel like we beet a dead horse a lot on this forum.